The Bronze (2015)

Melissa Rauch (Bernadette from The Big Bang Theory) co-wrote and stars in this comedy about an Olympic bronze medalist reluctantly dragooned into coaching a potentially superior young gymnast (Haley Lu Richardson) after their mutual coach dies. The comic conceit of the film is that Rauch's character Hope Ann Greggory is very foul mouthed, rude, and bitter about an ankle spraining at the 2004 games which she feels cost her the gold. If you can lean into the idea of this petit little woman being an asshole to most everyone around her, it's pretty fun, if you can't you probably won't enjoy it. There is of course something of a redemption narrative here, and I found that I liked this film more then I thought I would. Good supporting performances from Gary Cole, Thomas Middleditch, Sebastian Stan and Richardson. A guilty pleasure. **1/2